National Air and Space Museum Archives

La Vona Gebb Drankham Collection

Summary

Collection ID:
NASM.2013.0059
Creators:
Drankham, La Vona Gebb
Dates:
bulk 1968-1983
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.18 Cubic feet
(1 box)
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection consists of the following items relating to La Vona Gebb Drankham's space engineering career: Nuclear Reactor-Powered Space Station Mass Properties, 1970; Solar-Powered Space Station Mass Properties, 1970; Space Shuttle Mass Properties Status Report, 1973; Space Shuttle Program: Detail Mass Properties Report (Final), Volume 1. Summary, 1971; 1972 Annual Report for North American Rockwell; Apollo 8: First Manned Lunar Flight, color, silent, 8 mm film, December 1968; Apollo 11: Man on the Moon, color, silent 8 mm film, July 1969; Jon A McBride print autographed to Drankham; and a copy of a speech given by her in 1983 entitled "Space Shuttle Benefits."

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
La Vona Gebb Drankham (1918-2011) graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) in January 1940 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Mathematics. During the 1940s Drankham worked for Douglas Aircraft Company and then was hired by North American Aviation Aerophysics Lab (later Rockwell International) in 1949, where she worked for 25 years. Drankham was a Mass Properties Engineer in Advanced Engineering, and was responsible for estimating the weight of a vehicle, the distribution of that weight and the effect that weight has on performance. For several years she was one of the weight engineers on the NASA Apollo spacecraft project. She was also a member of the Space Shuttle Design Team for Rockwell International. She retired from Rockwell in 1974. In 1970 she was awarded the Apollo Achievement Award as a member of the Apollo Team.

Administration

Immediate Source of Acquisition
Juanita Gebb Acha, Gift, 2013

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access.
Preferred Citation
La Vona Gebb Drankham Collection, Accession 2013-0059, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Conditions Governing Use
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Astronautics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Space stations Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mathematicians Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Speeches Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Reports Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Motion pictures (visual works) Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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